December was another crazy and fun month.
Alex brought home this Journal page he had written at school about our trip to Disneyland. We thought it was pretty funny.
One day this month at preschool the kids got to make snow. Alex wanted to get in on the fun afterwards as well. It was a lot of fun.
I think we just got one sad snowstorm this month. It had mostly melted by the time Alex got home from school but Mia got to enjoy it for a minute.
Mia got to practice coming to primary a few times this month. I love that I get to see her now during primary. She is looking so grown up.
We got to take Alex to the new Star Wars movie with some neighbors. It was a lot of fun and the movie was great!
We went to Christmas in Color again this year. It was crazy busy but still fun.
At least Mia waited until it was over to fall asleep.
This month we got to go watch Mia at her tumbling review. She has loved going to tumbling. Brandon and I had some good laughs watching her perform her tricks. She is easily the smallest girl in her class. It was fun to watch!
Her poor arms aren't long enough to push her head off the ground.
As per tradition we got to go see Santa with Brandon's family again this year. It actually made me a little sad that neither of our kids were nervous this time. We got some cute pictures and they were excited to tell Santa what they wanted.
The best part is the delicious Asian Star after. The kids love looking at the fish.
We also performed our special nativity with my family again. I think the costumes get better every year. As usual we nailed it.
This year our Ward Christmas party was "A Night in Bethlehem." It was a lot of fun. The kids got to visit different shops and even make a craft. They loved it.
They had an awesome photo booth set up to look like the stable where Jesus was born. Alex and two of his friends became the three Wise Men.
I always have to document their cute Christmas jammies.
Another tradition we checked off the list was making a gingerbread house. Brandon always has a hard time letting go of his OCD and letting the kids just take charge. They did a great job though and it turned out great.
Mia got to perform in her preschool Christmas program. It was very cute and she did a great job!
Alex had a day where the kids got to make Gingerbread houses and have a parent come help them. He chose to have Brandon come help him. They had a lot of fun. It was also pajama day at school.
Right before Christmas we got to go see Harry Potter in Concert with the Utah Symphony. This time it was the second movie. It was a lot of fun and such a fun way to watch a movie.
We had a fun preschool Christmas party before Christmas. Elsie even got to come join us.
Because Christmas Eve was on a Sunday we had to do a few of our traditions the day before. We started out the day going to breakfast with Brandon's family. We went to the Black Bear Diner this year. It was great as usual.
We also got to go visit Stephanie and open up some gifts with her.
That night we went to the Gygi Christmas party but I forgot to take any pictures.
On Christmas Eve we enjoyed the beautiful Church service. I especially enjoyed that we didn't have to hold primary!
After Church we got to spend some time at Sarah, Jen and Bayley's house. We ate pizza and did the always hilarious white elephant gift exchange. It was a lot of fun. The gifts get weirder every year.
Mia got some amazing 80's workout gear thanks to Jessica. I'm sure they will come in handy.
Finally we went to Brandon's parent's house for a delicious dinner of crab and exchanged a few presents.
When we finally got home for the night it was time to say goodbye to Buddy our Elf. We also got a plate ready for Santa and his reindeer. We included apples this year because Santa told us the reindeer love them. Alex also wanted to write Santa a quick note.
For the first time Alex and Mia had a sleepover in Alex's room. They actually settled down quickly. At one point I was listening at the door and I heard Alex say, "Okay Mia, we really need to go to sleep now so that Santa can come." It was pretty cute!
Luckily Santa did come! We were so excited!
Alex always has the best reactions when opening his presents.
Mia was less enthusiastic.
Alex wanted a Storm Trooper Fidget Cube most of all. Santa tricked him by wrapping it in a giant box. Alex said his heart was pounding because he didn't think he was going to get it. It was pretty funny.
After spending some time at home and my family came to see what our kids got we headed out to Brandon's family's house. The kids were so excited to open even more presents!
The last stop of the day was to my family's house where we opened even more presents and ate more delicious food. It was such a great day!
A few days after Christmas Brandon and Alex went up to Logan to go Ice Fishing with Trevor and his boys. Alex has been asking to go fishing for a long time so he was pretty excited. They had a great time and even caught a lot of fish. A few days later Brandon even cooked up our fish and they were delicious!
It wasn't too cold or too crowded this year which was nice!
On the last day of the year we got to see baby Zayne get a blessing and then went to the Jennings house for some lunch after. We loved meeting Trevor and Marlene's new dog they got for Christmas. She is so cute!
On New Years Eve we had a lot of fun with my family. We played a lot of fun games. We all got a good laugh taking turns playing Pie Face.
It was a great month and year. We are lucky to have such great family to spend it with!
